For the above images
(left the Sprite 35 Mk 1 and right the Sprite 35 Mk 2), plus
some of the other pictures below, I'm indebted to Richard Dixon
who has a lot of his camera photographs on this
web site.

The Sprite 35 was a cheap 35mm
camera with an unusual, yet attractive, coloured & grey plastic
trim. The simple lens had three aperture settings, f8, f11 &
f16, selected by aligning a small lever to the right of the lens
surround. It had a film advance lever wind and a black twist
knob for film rewinding. Some body and lettering colour variations
seem to exist, but are difficult to verify.

It appeared around 1964 and
seemingly continued on sale until at least the end of 1967.

At some time during it's life,
it had a frontal face-lift (as the version alongside and to the
right, above), which has been designated the Mk 2 version.
Notice the different colour and type-face of it's name alongside
the viewfinder. Other changes
were that the 'f' aperture numbering scale alonside the lens
was re-orientated to make it easier to read (a Mk 1 scale is
show alongside) and some knurling was incoporated into the lens
surround (see the Mk 2 image above). Strangely, the Sprite to
the immediate left of this text has the first two changes but
not the knurling, but this is of no disadvantage as the lens
surround is fixed; the knurling seems to be just a styling feature.

Its probable that the Ilford
Sprite 35 was made by Agilux, of Croydon, as a near identical
camera is known to have been sold as the Agiflash 35 (scroll
down to view).

The Sprite 35 was also sold
as the 'Wards econo 35', presumably by the US chain store Montgomery
Ward. Also see. To view the Wards 'econo 35' scroll
down the page. The image of the 'econo 35' was sent to me by
Phil Sterritt.

Note the film advance
lever (right hand side) and rewind knob (left hand side)
The exposure counter is the small red window to the right of
the viewfinder.
The wind-on lever is operated to the full extent of its travel
until there is a 'clcik' as the shutter release button springs
upwards to the top of its front slot. The shutter has then been
cocked and the camera ready to take a picture. The wind-on lever
cannot be operated again until after a picture has been taken.

The Sprite 35 with the back
removed and its flashgun in place. The film path has the usual
curve to help correct 'curvature of field' of the simple lens
in the longitudinal plane.

My thanks to 'Snappy' and the
website: http://welovesnap.com/newforum/showthread.php?t=12002
for the original of the picture shown left and below.

The instructions came as a simple
'fan-fold' sheet.

The Sprite 35 had a dedicated
separate flashgun. The flashgun came in a separate box, as shown
here, alongside the camera's box. It would have been purchased
as a separate item and was still advertised as such in the Amateur
Photographer magazine 'Lighting & Flash Guide' for 1st Nov.1967.
It was priced 18s.9d (94p) and took AG1 type flash bulbs.

The flash would have been kept
in your gadget bag (or pocket) until wanted. Synchronisation
was achieved when the flashgun was plugged into the camera top
(see the two openings to the left of the viewfinder front opening,
below).

My thanks to Andy Holliman and to Richard
Dixon for the following notes and pictures of the Sprite 35's
'unique' flashgun.

"Unique"
because it cannot be fitted onto any other camera and also unique
in its design. The front of the flash gun has the same trim as
the body of the camera. The protruding 'sprung' bright metal
latch holds the flash bulb in place and also, by pressing downwards,
allows the bulb to be easily removed when used (and still hot).

The edge of the plastic to
the side of the camera's viewfinder housing are angled slightly
(like a dovetail joint) to allow the flash head to slide on to
the viewfinder top, with the electrical contacts being made and
the flash gun held securely in place.

Above can be seen the rear
view of the flashgun, showing the two copper contact strips which
engage with the openings alongside the camera's viewfinder.

The underside
of the flashgun, showing its capacitor and the place to insert
its 22.5volt battery. This access is normally covered by a sliding
piece of stout card, see picture opposite.

Richard noted
that this cardboard cover was mentioned in the flash gun's instructions
and sent me a picture of the relevant part of the instruction
leaflet, see below.

The flashgun instructions have
the date code D.64/P in their lower left hand corner.

The D.64 indicates the leaflet
was printed in April 1964, but the meaning of the 'P' is unknown.